Over the years the mechanical cash register and the electromechanical cash register have been replaced gradually by the electronic cash register which provides faster and more efficient operation in retail establishments. The electronic cash register is normally operated by more than one operator within a given period of time, such as a day, and a record of transactions is usually maintained for each operator during his or her tour of duty at the register.
As in the case of the mechanical or the electromechanical cash register, the electronic register also uses a cash drawer arrangement which includes a removable cash till. The cash drawer is constructed to move outwardly from the cash register housing at the front thereof generally upon completion of each and every transaction. The removable cash till is positioned within the cash drawer and functions as a receptacle for coin, cash or checks received by the operator of the register. This arrangement can be viewed as a cash till in a cash drawer in a cash register which may be operated by one or more operators within a given period of time.
In recent years the supermarket has become a dominant part of the retail establishment and a plurality of cash registers or terminals are employed in the market. Dependent upon the operation of the business or the activity thereof, a number of operators may be assigned to each register, or one operator may be assigned to more than one register. In effect, the operation may be designed to employ more than one cash till per operator or more than one operator per cash till for a particular register.
In certain types of retail operations, if an error is made in the amount of the sale or if the operator makes an error in refunding change, it is difficult to identify the operator or the cash till involved in such a transaction. It is also seen that if a cashier transfers from one cash register to another, it is difficult to compare the amount in the cash till with an amount which should be credited to the operator. While there have been ways and means for identifying, checking, comparing and crediting amounts of money received and disbursed relative to a particular operator or a register, it is desired that a closer control of the operations be accomplished and maintained.
Representative prior art in the field of identification means for cash register or like operations includes U.S. Pat. No. 2,883,104, issued to D. J. Kintner on Apr. 21, 1959, which discloses a cash register drawer selecting apparatus in which a single cash register is normally used by two or more cashiers and includes two cash drawers spaced from each other and controlled by the single register. The two cash drawers are normally held closed by drawer latches, released by solenoids, and are arranged to be spring-urged open from opposite sides of the cabinet dependent upon the rotated position of the register.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,855,432, issued to J. E. Kelley et al. on Dec. 17, 1974, discloses a drawer position sensing, latch operated, switch assembly including a rotatable latch member and a slidably mounted, switch actuating member along with means for urging the drawer to an open position which urging means includes a solenoid for rotating both the latch member and the switch member.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,140, issued to H. Fowler et al. on May 31, 1977, discloses an electronic cash register having an inverted U-shaped housing with downwardly extending side members and a cash till positioned between the members and forming at least a portion of the bottom of the register.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,991, issued to K. Hamano et al. on Sept. 2, 1980, discloses an electronic cash register with removable memory packs for cashier identification, and including a first interface circuit with which a cashier memory pack is coupled, a second interface circuit with which a terminal memory pack is coupled, and a central processing unit operably connected to load the sales information for each transaction into the memory packs.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,337,393, issued to G. H. Hilton on June 29, 1982, discloses a cassette for banknotes which has a device on the side of the panel to identify the denomination of the banknotes. The device is encoded to enable an associated sensing means in the machine to interpret the encoded information. The encoding device may be either magnetic, mechanical or optical. The identification means may comprise one or more switch striking means disposed in a predetermined formation and adapted to actuate one or more associated electrical switches fixed to the dispenser when the cassette is moved to its operative position.
And, U.S. Pat. No. 4,471,434, issued to Y. Iwawaki on Sept. 11, 1984, discloses an electronic cash register selectively operable in a one clerk mode or a two clerk mode and including first and second keyboard means along with comparing means, set time memory means, detection means, and control means responsive to clerk mode signals for enabling one or the other keyboard means.